Protecting Our Communities

Tag Archives: loughborough

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to write a regular blog about policing in Charnwood and here is my first one.

As I write we are investigating a series of crimes where a number of vehicles were damaged across the city and county. We received more than 60 reports of vehicles having their tyres slashed and rear windows smashed overnight on Sunday 1 January and Monday 2 January.

Reports have been received from a number of areas including Glenfield, Thurmaston, East Goscote, Rearsby, Frisby on the Wreake, Saxelby, Waltham on the Wolds.

Nothing was stolen during the incidents and at this stage we’re keeping an open mind as to whether all the reports are linked. We have undertaken extensive enquiries including house to house visits and a check for CCTV. We are taking these incidents very seriously and we have increased patrols in the areas affected by the incidents.

A number of men have been arrested in connection with this series of offences and they are currently on bail whilst we complete some further enquiries.

Tackling anti-social behaviour in Charnwood.
Just prior to Christmas, Charnwood Borough Council were successful in obtaining injunctions against six people who had been causing anti-social behaviour in Loughborough.

This followed a series of incidents in and around Loughborough town centre and included drug taking, begging, and using stairwells of a car park as a toilet.

Injunctions were granted against six people: Brett Bott (also known as Brett Tooby), Jamie Orchard, Adam Hill, Terry Spencer, David Fisher and Lisa Hutchinson. All are of no fixed abode.

As well as being banned from Beehive Lane car park, the injunctions forbid them from engaging in any drug-related activity, begging, littering and sleeping in public areas in Loughborough town centre; Queen’s Park; Steeple Row, Loughborough, and Beehive Lane car park. The injunctions last for two years and breaching the conditions means they could be arrested.

This situation was very much a last resort and came about after various agencies have tried to engage with the people concerned and offer support which was not taken advantage of.

We will continue to work hard with Charnwood Borough Council and our other partners to tackle anti-social behaviour in Charnwood.

Operation Lexical
Operation Lexical is our on-going crime and anti-social behaviour which is running in Charnwood and in particular Loughborough. In the run up to Christmas we focussed on house burglary and in partnership with Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University, we targeted insecure doors and windows. In previous years we have had a problem with house burglaries where properties have been left insecure. I am delighted to say that when we carried out our patrols the overwhelming majority of houses we visited were secure with very few doors and windows left open. Hopefully this will translate into lower numbers burglaries that we have reported to us. I should have more information about that in my next blog.

In the mean-time our key crime prevention message in relation to burglary is:

lock all windows and doors

leave a light on or use a light timer to give the appearance your home is occupied

Kayleigh’s love story
Many of you will be familiar with the tragic story of Kayleigh Haywood a teenage girl from Measham who was raped and murdered in 2015 after being groomed online. Leicestershire Police has made a hard hitting film about Kayleigh. It was launched earlier this year and has been shown to over 35,000 school children in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The full film has now been made available and has been viewed an astonishing 6 million times!

The film is part of our CEASE campaign, the Commitment to Eradicate Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of children and young people. Since we launched this campaign in February last year over 21,000 people have signed a pledge to look out for the signs that a child or young person may be in danger of abuse and exploitation. Please visit this link to sign our online pledge.

This is a brief update on my recent experiences as the Inspector for the Charnwood Neighbourhood Policing Area.

SARG
In June I was invited to attend SARG (Storer and Ashby Road Residents Association) at their premises at Roseberry St Peters Community Centre to share and discus issues raised by the local community.

Speeding has been raised as a problem in the area and regular speed checks are being undertaken by the beat PCSOs, Jo Pitfield and Shaheen Abdulla who have fed back the results to the local team and will also update SARG.

Shepshed
I would like to thank Shepshed Town Council for inviting me to their meeting in July. We discussed their concerns and my aim to continue to deliver local policing to the town. I welcome invitations from other town and parish councils and will attend where my duties allow.

It’s been a busy six months since changes were made to the way that Leicestershire Police deliver local policing, and I believe that my dedicated neighbourhood team are delivering a service to Charnwood like never before. They are out in your communities where I want and need them to be, finding out more about local issues.

Freshers’ week
My team and I are currently planning for events during the summer and also planning for Freshers’ week and the new university term. We are trying to ensure that police resources are in the right place to address community concerns and support new students as we welcome them to Loughborough.

Women in Policing
I am currently developing events to celebrate 100 years of women in policing. I am working with Leicestershire Police, Police Federation of England & Wales (PFEW) and the British Association of Women in Policing (BAWP) to celebrate the achievement and advancements of women since 1915. We are planning to show how the uniform has changed over the years and show the different roles women have undertaken over the course of the past 100 years.

Through the work I do around equality and diversity I am constantly learning about other cultures and gender issues, which leads to the development of the skills of my team. Increasing our knowledge helps to solve problems in the community which was highlighted in July when I visited City Heights which is covered by the Loughborough East Safer Neighbourhood team. I was there to consult with a group of young women living at the flat complex. They described the problems that they encounter on a regular basis and the challenges they encounter and gave me an insight into their lives.

Crime Prevention We plan many crime prevention initiatives and one I would like to mention in this blog is mobile phone safety. We carry around expensive technology which has become vital to our daily lives and contains pictures and contacts that can’t be replaced but is often left without security marking or just left on a table. To help the police, register your valuables on immobilise.com the UK national property register, ensure that you have added the ‘find my phone’ app to Apple products so that they can easily be located, record the IMEI number and finally be sure you know where your phone is. We can’t avoid all crime but by taking small steps we have a chance of returning stolen items to their rightful owners.

Finally…………………. Insp Rik Basra is a Leicestershire Police who beat Leukaemia thanks to eventually finding a stem cell match through the Anthony Nolan Trust. Rik has gone on to do great things trying to grow the donor register and help others to find a donor in their time of need. Leicester/Leicestershire is now second only to London in terms of registered donors!

During September we will be supporting the Rik Basra ‘Pass it On’ campaign which is a series of 31 registration events across Leicestershire. If you are aged 16 to 30 and are interested in registering as a potential donor, please visit this link for more information. http://rikbasra.com/

Oh and one last thing…….. On a personal note I was delighted to attend my son’s graduation from Liverpool University last week where he gained a first class honours degree in physics.

That is all for this month, if you see me out and about please say hello,

Our performance in terms of crime is closely monitored and is always of interest to local people. Our recording year starts in April, much like the tax year, and we examine crime trends on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. We also use data from previous years which we combine to identify emerging trends and take proactive as well as reactive action, to not only drive crime down but also identify and deal with offenders.

Since the start of April we have seen a 4.2% decrease in the total amount of crime we have had reported to us when compared to 2012-13. This amounts to 40 or so less reports. Whilst it is still very early to break out the champagne, we will continue to work hard and keep the numbers going in the right direction.

We have seen an increase in thefts from gardens, sheds and allotments of 21% which is 12 more offences. A number of the offences reported to us relate to where property has been left insecure.

Fitting a good quality lock to your garage or shed and not leaving tools out will help prevent you becoming a victim of crime.

As I was reviewing the crime figures, I noticed that theft of cycles had reduced by 15% with 9 fewer victims. Together with the Crime Safety Partnership we have undertaken a great deal of work in this area, with bike hub events, bike marking, and offering for sale good quality D-locks. Perhaps you have seen the ‘yellow’ bike in Loughborough Town centre. Hopefully the reduction in thefts is a sign that the hard work is starting to pay off.

Look out for the yellow bikes in Loughborough

Operation Umbel

Operation Umbel is our ongoing operation designed to target and reduce anti-social behaviour in and around Loughborough Town centre. We work closely with Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University with a range of activities.

We recently ran a ‘mock bar’ event at Loughborough Students Union. This included a quiz on the units of alcohol in popular drinks. We linked this to a reaction machine kindly provided by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service. Each participant was allowed two attempts on the reaction machine. On the second attempt they were given ‘beer goggles’ to wear which mimic the effects of alcohol consumption, in particular reduced peripheral vision and hand-eye coordination.

Without beer goggles

With beer goggles

If you get the chance to try the ‘beer goggle’ experience please do so, and you will get a better understanding of why you should not drink and drive.

Safer Neighbourhood Teams

Through this period of austerity, Leicestershire Police have undergone a massive amount of change during the course of which we have seen a number of our police stations sold. Despite that we still remain committed to local policing and during my time here I will work hard to ensure that we have a local policing presence across Loughborough, Shepshed and Hathern.

With that in mind I am going to use this update to highlight our local police teams.

The Shepshed and Loughborough West team, are still based in Shepshed in the Police and Fire Station on Charnwood Road.

Pc 1799 Phil Martindale is the Beacon Officer for the team and is ably supported by :

The team cover Shepshed and the west side of Loughborough and they hold regular engagement events.

The next one is on the 21st and 22nd July between 9am and 10pm each day in Hallcroft, Shepshed. This is an opportunity to meet the team and receive crime prevention advice, and have property post coded.

Welcome to my latest update about policing in Loughborough and Shepshed.

As many of you will be aware we are building a new police station at the rear of our current one on Southfields Road. The builders have worked extremely hard and we will be moving in ahead of schedule during the week commencing the 2nd June. Shortly after we move in work will begin to demolish the old building which will then be turned into our car park. I have had a look around inside and the new building will provide a first class policing base in Loughborough.

Here are some pictures of the new building.

Front of new police station

Our new building does not have a front enquiry office, and we have now moved that facility to the offices of Charnwood Borough Council on Southfield Road where we will now share enquiry services.

This service will be open between 8.30am and 5pm Monday to Thursdays, and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Fridays. This service commenced on Tuesday 6th May, so if you were thinking of visiting the police station, please don’t, we are no longer in a position to receive the general public.

You can still contact us by phone, on 101 for non-emergencies and 999 for emergencies, and if you want information about your local policing team, that can be found by visiting this link.

We have also launched ‘Ask the Police’ a frequently asked question page on our web-site, as we often find that members of the public ring us with requests for information and advice. Have a look at the site as you might find the information you are looking for without the need to call or visit us.

An important part of what we do at Loughborough is our work with local people, and I was delighted to hear that PC Gary Bailey, and PC Lisa Charles two of our officers from the Loughborough Safer Neighbourhood Team, visited The Carpenter’s Arms, which is a Christian run project to help men with drug and alcohol problems.

Whilst there Gary and Lisa cooked a meal for staff and residents, which I understand was an outstanding success. The feedback we have received about the visit has been excellent and has enabled us to engage with people who may not have had the most positive experience of working with the police.

Pc Gary Bailey and Pc Lisa Charles cooking up a treat

I mentioned in a previous update that Gary was an experienced officer who had transferred to us from Keyham Lane police station in the City. In a very short space of time Gary has managed to make a strong impression on the local community and I am sure you will be seeing more of him over the next few months.

A significant element of our work at Loughborough is to tackle the issues that are important to the community. We regularly engage and consult with large part of the community as well as statutory and voluntary partners. I would therefore be grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete our on-line questionnaire and tell us about issues that you feel need tackling. It can be found by visiting this link.

Welcome to the latest monthly update, with news about policing in and around Loughborough over the past few weeks.

Hello and Goodbye
We have had a busy time with a new Beacon Officer joining our Loughborough East Safer Neighbourhood Team. PC Gary Bailey joins us from the Keyham Lane where he was a successful neighbourhood officer and has a lot of experience. Judging by the impact Gary has made in the few weeks since his arrival, it is clear he will be a great asset for us and the community. Make sure you say hello to Gary when you see him out and about in Loughborough.

PC Gary Bailey

At the same time as Gary arrived, we also said goodbye to two of our Police Community Support Officers. Lauren De Wet and John Bulloch have left Loughborough and are now undergoing training to become police officers. They have had a tremendous impact during their time with us and I am sure they will be very successful as police officers.

PCSO John Bulloch

PCSO Lauren De Wet

I would like to thank them for their hard work and wish them well in their new roles.

Drugs – knocking on the door
We have had a busy time over the past four weeks and have executed four warrants in relation to the misuse of drugs. These have resulted in a number of people being detained, with one person cautioned for possession of a Class A drug (heroin), and three people under investigation for offences in relation to possession and possession with intent to supply drugs, and handling stolen goods.

I am aware that use and supply of illegal drugs is concern to the community and I wish to reiterate that we take these concerns seriously. Information from local people is essential in helping us to obtain search warrants and also prosecute offenders.
If you have any information about illegal drug activity you can ring 101 or alternatively, contact Crimestoppers, which is free and anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

Lock it or lose it!
We have been receiving reports of thefts from cars and vans where they have been left insecure. At the end of January we held a day of education in partnership with Charnwood Borough Council, Outwoods Edge Primary School, Haddon Way Residents Group, and Street Watch.

This was a great event and was an opportunity for local people to receive crime prevention advice. It is too early to say if the message has got home, but in the mean-time, LOCK IT OR LOSE IT!

Welcome to my first update for 2014, and I hope that you have had a peaceful and happy New Year. For me the calories I consumed over the festive period will take a little longer to work-off!

As we ended last year we had a great success with the arrest of Daniel Perry. He had been wanted for several months by the police in relation to a number of offences including burglary.

Just prior to Christmas we issued an appeal as to his whereabouts together with a reward of £1000. On the 27th December Perry was located in Loughborough and arrested.

Daniel Perry

He was subsequently charged with five offences including burglary, theft of a vehicle and driving offences. He later appeared at court where he admitted the offences and has been remanded into custody pending sentence at Leicester Crown Court.

I am delighted that Perry is in custody and would like to thank our own Loughborough officers; officers from Operation Tiger, and the public who all combined to ensure the arrest of Perry.

During this month we say goodbye to two members of our Safer Neighbourhood Teams who have made valuable contributions to policing in Loughborough.

Firstly, PC 4661 Michelle Preston formerly one of our Beacon Officers for the Loughborough Central Safer Neighbourhood Team has been successful in securing a place within our Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where she started work at the beginning of the year.

PC now DC Michelle Preston

Our loss is CID’s gain, and Michelle will be a hard act to follow. I would like to publicly thank Michelle for her hard work and wish her all the best for the future. PC 1845 Mike Green will be moving across and taking over Michelle’s responsibilities.

The second person leaving us is PCSO 6501 Dave Falle, also from the Loughborough Central Safer Neighbourhood Team. Dave will be retiring in February after working 28 years for Leicestershire Police, firstly as a Traffic Warden and latterly as a Police Community Support Officer. All of Dave’s service has been at Loughborough.

PCSO Dave Falle

I know that Dave is a familiar face to many in and around Loughborough and he will be sorely missed. Again, I would like to thank Dave for not only his work as a PCSO at Loughborough but for 28 years of dedicated public service. As a personal message to Dave I would say;

“I hope your retirement is a long and happy one.”

Work on the new Loughborough Police Station continues at a tremendous pace as you can see from this picture. We could be moving in sooner than we thought!

New Loughborough Police Station – in progress

On a final note, we are still suffering a worrying number of burglaries and vehicle crimes where life for the criminal has been made a whole lot easier as people are still leaving their vehicles and homes insecure.

To quote a crime prevention message from many years ago;

“Lock it or lose it!”

For more information about how you can help prevent yourself becoming a victim of crime please visit this link;

I took over as Local Policing Unit Commander for Loughborough LPU in October 2013, and I am enjoying the challenge of working at a busy station with a great team. I have spent the past couple of months finding out about the great variety of work we are doing here.

Since the beginning of the financial year in April we have seen a small reduction in burglary across the Loughborough area of 5.2% which means there have been twelve fewer victims of burglary. I am delighted with this as it represents a lot of hard work targeting the people who are doing us harm, as well as getting our patrols in the right place and working on a consistent crime prevention message.

Together with my team we will be working hard to drive down all crime, and burglary in particular.

With the darker nights upon us, it would be timely to remind everybody to always lock your doors and if you are going to be out when it is dark, to leave some lights on. We have available for purchase at Loughborough police station a variety of crime prevention products including light timers and window shock alarms.

Vehicle crime is always a concern, and I never fail to be surprised by the number of people who still make the life of the criminal a lot easier than it should be. Across Loughborough we have had a number of cars stolen where the doors have not been locked.

If you are leaving your vehicle, even if only for a short time, always lock it. If you have any valuables, remove them or put them out of sight. If you leave it on show expect it to go.

This is also linked to the seasonal weather, and we regularly receive reports of vehicles that are stolen when they have been left with the engine running and unattended whilst the owner is indoors waiting for the windscreen to defrost.

Quite simply, do not leave your car unattended with the engine running.

You can pop into Loughborough police station and collect one of our free ice-scrapers.

We are also undergoing some changes with our Safer Neighbourhood Teams, and in the New Year PC Suzie Jackson who is the Beacon Officer for the University, will be going into CID for an attachment. Suzie has become a well known face around the University and has forged some great links with both the University and the Students Union.

PC 4616 Suzie Jackson

Suzie will be back in 2014, and in her absence;

PC Phil Ariss will be taking over the role, please make him welcome as you see him out and about around the University.

PC 2874 Phil Ariss

On a final note on behalf of all of the police officers and staff, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.

Inspector Nathan Kirk

Loughborough LPU Commander

You can follow me on twitter, visit this link twitter.com/LoughboroughLPU